How MPA Raza Haider was shot by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi men

Seven alleged target killers belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and one from Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan have confessed to have killed dozens in sectarian violence in Karachi including murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider, the Joint Interrogation Report on target killings in Karachi reveals.

The reportâ€™s findings speak clearly of the growing sectarian violence in Karachi and with what ease the alleged killers planned and executed the killings.

According to the Sindh governmentâ€™s report, the joint interrogation team comprising representatives of ISI, IB, CID Karachi, Special Branch, Pakistan Rangers, CID Sindh, CPLC and Karachi Police interrogated seven target killers from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and one from Sipah-e-Muhammad out of which four were involved in the murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider.

A reading of the findings of the report depicts that sectarian killing was not controlled through any centre and these were the alleged killers who used to select targets, do recky and execute plan.

One of these alleged target killers is Muhammad Waseem Ahmad alias Baroodi of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He had an electric shop in Karachi had confessed of being involved in target killings of Shia sect during 2000 and 2001.

He met Dr Tariq Shafi, Naseem Firon, Murad Noor, Imran Mota and Zeeshan in 2000. He remained in jail for seven years and was released on bail in 2008. During 2000 and 2001 he was involved in the murder of one Sullu, Niaz Hussain, Imam of Romi Mosque, an old snake charmer, Muslim Hussain and Zahid Hussain.

In July 2008 Waseem again started his business of electric. He met Shakeel Burmi, Mehandi and Dilshad in jail who too shared same views as of him. He was approached by these three people in 2009, after his release, to start â€œworkâ€ again but he refused. Later Shakeel was arrested and named Waseem Baroodi to save his other friends. He came out again on bail after five months and then he met Maqsood Qureshi, Qasim and Taimoor. Maqsood Quershi was the financial supporter of Waseem Baroodi as reported in the JIT findings.

He started his â€˜workâ€™ again of allegedly killing the Shias and his first target was Syed Asif Raza who worked in a printing press. Waseem used to meet him in the press and there he noticed that Allama Abbas Kamaili used to call Asif Raza. He was killed in a typical style on motorcycle.

After 3/4 days of killing of Asif it was planned to kill Abbas Kamailiâ€™s son, Shahzad Raza, who had a dry fruit shop and was assassinated on his way to home. Later it was disclosed that Shahzad was brother of Asif. Waseem also killed Naseer Hussain Jaffery, technician of Chinnot Hospital in Nazimabad. He was killed with a 9mm pistol.

â€œThen Akhlaq told me that a Shia named Fayyaz who is also an office bearer of ISO lives in our neighbourhood. He was assassinated while he was riding a motorcycle. After two weeks of Fayyazâ€™s killing, Qasim and Taimoor met me in Tahir Masjid, Nazimabad and told me that Maqsood had given 4-5 thousand rupees to them.

Akhlaq told me that in his uncleâ€™s funeral it was expected that MQMâ€™s MPA Raza Haider would attend it at the Jama-e Mosque of Nazimabad. Qasim and I said that we would go there and look what we could do. At that time I had 9mm pistol while Taimoor possessed 30 bore pistol and Qasim had a mega-roof weapon and Akhlaq did not have any weapon at all. We all reached the mosque separately at our own and when we reached it was time of Asr prayers. Raza Haider was present outside shaking his hands with people and I also joined the queue and shook hands with Raza Haider. After a while we noticed that Raza Haider was talking to someone on phone while his guard was also busy with the cell phone. Smelling the opportunity Qasim fired on the head of guard while Taimoor fired on Raza Haider but missed the target. MPA Haider ran towards the mosque. Taimoor took the Kalashnikov of guard and went after him and killed Raza Haider near washroom of mosque. I took both on them on my motorbike to Liaquatabad number 4, and dropped them in front of ZMC office. I inquired from Akhlaq about Raza Haider who told me that both, Haider and his guard have been killed. After 20-25 minutes I again went at the crime spot and took the bike of Qasim and parked it in front of Ziauddin Hospital. After four days we met at Pathano Wali Masjid and I told Qasim that his bike has been parked in front of Ziauddin hospital.â€

Waseem also disclosed before the JIT that his group also killed one Shirazi and a doctor for being Shia. He told the investigators that another doctor namely Dr Hassan Haider fell victim of their bullets while Dr Anis Jaffery was also injured by him.

The JIT has also mentioned the case of an alleged target killer Syed Ali Mehdi alias Salman hailing from Sipah-e-Muhammad. The interesting fact about Mehdiâ€™s episode is that he was a professional hockey player and played for KESC. The KESC did not pay him for six months. In 2009 he met Syed Ibrar Hussain Rizvi alias Sultan, Nomi and Mushtaq who asked Mehdi to work for Shia sect and also bought a Honda 125 worth Rs37000 for him.

He pointed out to Ibrar Rizvi about one Moavia to Ibrar Rizvi who later on in May 2010 killed Moavia at a shop. He was given Rs4500 as reward for this pointing out.

Moreover, in reaction to Shia Scholar Mirza Yousafâ€™s son namely Mirza Khadim Hussain, Ibrar Ahamd Rizvi called Mehdi to come at Baqai Hospital. There they did the recky of a black car who was owned by Dr Shakoor (allegedly affiliated with Sipah-e-Sahaba). Upon Mehdiâ€™s pointing, Rizvi killed Dr Shakoor and Mehdi got Rs5000 as reward from Ibrar Rizvi.

In another case Muhammad Imran Puncharwala was also killed by Ibrar Rizvi upon recky of Mehdi, who got Rs2000 as reward for this work. â€œIn the month of March 2010, Ibrar Ahmad Rizvi came at Babul Ilem Imam Bargah, Karachi and told him regarding murder of Mufti Saeed Jalalpuri (affiliated with Tahrik-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwat Pakistan) at Abul Asfahani Road, near Paradise Bakery Karachi in a car.

Haider and Samar told him regarding murder of one owner of medical store situated at Petal Wali Gali, Golimar, Karachiâ€, says the report.

Mehdi disclosed that the persons killed/injured above were activated/ aggressive against Shia sect thatâ€™s why in the interest of Shia sect they were assassinated/injured. The other reasons of sectarian killing of such persons were that they had killed the persons affiliated with Ahl-e-Tashiee community.

The JIT has also mentioned the cases of other alleged sectarian killers of whom one is Abdullah alias Taimoor who had killed MQM MPA Raza Haider along with Waseem Baroodi. He was a partner of Waseem Baroodi in every event and both were arrested together.

Akhlaq Pervaiz alias Umair is also in the JITâ€™s report who was allegedly involved in Raza Haiderâ€™s killing.

Another alleged sectarian killer and partner of Waseem Baroodi, Naseem Firon confessed to have killed many with Waseem, however he also killed a Christian for alleged blasphemy of holy Quran. Another alleged target killer is Asif Rasheed alias Dunda.

Usman Manzoor

Source: The News

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According to the Sindh governmentâ€™s report, the joint interrogation team comprising representatives of ISI, IB, CID Karachi, Special Branch, Pakistan Rangers, CID Sindh, CPLC and Karachi Police interrogated seven target killers from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and one from Sipah-e-Muhammad out of which four were involved in the murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider.

A reading of the findings of the report depicts that sectarian killing was not controlled through any centre and these were the alleged killers who used to select targets, do recky and execute plan.

One of these alleged target killers is Muhammad Waseem Ahmad alias Baroodi of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He had an electric shop in Karachi had confessed of being involved in target killings of Shia sect during 2000 and 2001.

He met Dr Tariq Shafi, Naseem Firon, Murad Noor, Imran Mota and Zeeshan in 2000. He remained in jail for seven years and was released on bail in 2008. During 2000 and 2001 he was involved in the murder of one Sullu, Niaz Hussain, Imam of Romi Mosque, an old snake charmer, Muslim Hussain and Zahid Hussain.

In July 2008 Waseem again started his business of electric. He met Shakeel Burmi, Mehandi and Dilshad in jail who too shared same views as of him. He was approached by these three people in 2009, after his release, to start â€œworkâ€ again but he refused. Later Shakeel was arrested and named Waseem Baroodi to save his other friends. He came out again on bail after five months and then he met Maqsood Qureshi, Qasim and Taimoor. Maqsood Quershi was the financial supporter of Waseem Baroodi as reported in the JIT findings.

He started his â€˜workâ€™ again of allegedly killing the Shias and his first target was Syed Asif Raza who worked in a printing press. Waseem used to meet him in the press and there he noticed that Allama Abbas Kamaili used to call Asif Raza. He was killed in a typical style on motorcycle.

After 3/4 days of killing of Asif it was planned to kill Abbas Kamailiâ€™s son, Shahzad Raza, who had a dry fruit shop and was assassinated on his way to home. Later it was disclosed that Shahzad was brother of Asif. Waseem also killed Naseer Hussain Jaffery, technician of Chinnot Hospital in Nazimabad. He was killed with a 9mm pistol.

â€œThen Akhlaq told me that a Shia named Fayyaz who is also an office bearer of ISO lives in our neighbourhood. He was assassinated while he was riding a motorcycle. After two weeks of Fayyazâ€™s killing, Qasim and Taimoor met me in Tahir Masjid, Nazimabad and told me that Maqsood had given 4-5 thousand rupees to them.

Akhlaq told me that in his uncleâ€™s funeral it was expected that MQMâ€™s MPA Raza Haider would attend it at the Jama-e Mosque of Nazimabad. Qasim and I said that we would go there and look what we could do. At that time I had 9mm pistol while Taimoor possessed 30 bore pistol and Qasim had a mega-roof weapon and Akhlaq did not have any weapon at all. We all reached the mosque separately at our own and when we reached it was time of Asr prayers. Raza Haider was present outside shaking his hands with people and I also joined the queue and shook hands with Raza Haider. After a while we noticed that Raza Haider was talking to someone on phone while his guard was also busy with the cell phone. Smelling the opportunity Qasim fired on the head of guard while Taimoor fired on Raza Haider but missed the target. MPA Haider ran towards the mosque. Taimoor took the Kalashnikov of guard and went after him and killed Raza Haider near washroom of mosque. I took both on them on my motorbike to Liaquatabad number 4, and dropped them in front of ZMC office. I inquired from Akhlaq about Raza Haider who told me that both, Haider and his guard have been killed. After 20-25 minutes I again went at the crime spot and took the bike of Qasim and parked it in front of Ziauddin Hospital. After four days we met at Pathano Wali Masjid and I told Qasim that his bike has been parked in front of Ziauddin hospital.â€

Waseem also disclosed before the JIT that his group also killed one Shirazi and a doctor for being Shia. He told the investigators that another doctor namely Dr Hassan Haider fell victim of their bullets while Dr Anis Jaffery was also injured by him.

The JIT has also mentioned the case of an alleged target killer Syed Ali Mehdi alias Salman hailing from Sipah-e-Muhammad. The interesting fact about Mehdiâ€™s episode is that he was a professional hockey player and played for KESC. The KESC did not pay him for six months. In 2009 he met Syed Ibrar Hussain Rizvi alias Sultan, Nomi and Mushtaq who asked Mehdi to work for Shia sect and also bought a Honda 125 worth Rs37000 for him.

He pointed out to Ibrar Rizvi about one Moavia to Ibrar Rizvi who later on in May 2010 killed Moavia at a shop. He was given Rs4500 as reward for this pointing out.

Moreover, in reaction to Shia Scholar Mirza Yousafâ€™s son namely Mirza Khadim Hussain, Ibrar Ahamd Rizvi called Mehdi to come at Baqai Hospital. There they did the recky of a black car who was owned by Dr Shakoor (allegedly affiliated with Sipah-e-Sahaba). Upon Mehdiâ€™s pointing, Rizvi killed Dr Shakoor and Mehdi got Rs5000 as reward from Ibrar Rizvi.

In another case Muhammad Imran Puncharwala was also killed by Ibrar Rizvi upon recky of Mehdi, who got Rs2000 as reward for this work. â€œIn the month of March 2010, Ibrar Ahmad Rizvi came at Babul Ilem Imam Bargah, Karachi and told him regarding murder of Mufti Saeed Jalalpuri (affiliated with Tahrik-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwat Pakistan) at Abul Asfahani Road, near Paradise Bakery Karachi in a car.

Haider and Samar told him regarding murder of one owner of medical store situated at Petal Wali Gali, Golimar, Karachiâ€, says the report.

Mehdi disclosed that the persons killed/injured above were activated/ aggressive against Shia sect thatâ€™s why in the interest of Shia sect they were assassinated/injured. The other reasons of sectarian killing of such persons were that they had killed the persons affiliated with Ahl-e-Tashiee community.

The JIT has also mentioned the cases of other alleged sectarian killers of whom one is Abdullah alias Taimoor who had killed MQM MPA Raza Haider along with Waseem Baroodi. He was a partner of Waseem Baroodi in every event and both were arrested together.

Akhlaq Pervaiz alias Umair is also in the JITâ€™s report who was allegedly involved in Raza Haiderâ€™s killing.

Another alleged sectarian killer and partner of Waseem Baroodi, Naseem Firon confessed to have killed many with Waseem, however he also killed a Christian for alleged blasphemy of holy Quran. Another alleged target killer is Asif Rasheed alias Dunda.